Day two of Ed Hood's Belgian jaunt took him to the roadside of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday, via one or two of his favourite hostelries. The more relaxed start allowed a bit of bike hardware inspection, and rider mingling, but with a race to watch the call of the bar L'Escale was strong.

If cycling is a sport of suffering, most of the time that suffering comes down to our muscles feeling like anchors on a climb or exploding in agony in a sprint. But fatigue, like love, is a many-splendored thing. Does the type and location of fatigue occur at different parts of our nerves and muscles depending on the type of exercise that we do?

Two races in Belgium at the week-end, so we put Ed Hood roadside in Flanders, and he was in his element. Cobbles, riders, fans, bikes and beer; all you need for two full days of Flemish fun. Although it was a sober Ed who walked stunned out of a bar after Saturday's Het Nieuwsblad debacle!

Race report: After yesterday's lemming-like ride into self-destruction, Etixx-QuickStep's riders would no doubt have taken to the road with Patrick Lefevre's team-talk thunder-clapping around their ears like a Pete Townsend power-chord from a 1970s Who concert. Today, they got it right in the end with a fine sprint win for Mark Cavendish.

Race Report: Up against three Etixx-Quickstep riders, and three of the best classics riders in the world, it was last year’s winner Ian Stannard of Team Sky who showed them all how to ride the Omloop. Boonen, Vandenbergh and Terpstra could do nothing to hold back a rampaging Englishman who wanted this win more than any other in his career.

One of my favorite rides in recent memory, and possibly ever – was a loop from Bellagio, up the Madonna del Ghisallo, then the Colma di Sormano, and back along the shores of Lake Como to my base at Il Perlo Panorama.

Rider interview: Two interviews for the price of one as Alastair Hamilton has a very long chat with two of the most experienced American riders on the WorldTour. BMC's Peter Stetina and Brent Bookwalter were recently in Spain and PEZ had to get all the behind the scenes info on the 'Super Team'.

This week Lee Rodgers casts his eye over the opening classics of the season and looks into just what makes these great old races so special. Lee also runs into a special old rider who has been up and maybe too close to the 'Campionissimo' Fausto Coppi himself. Life on the cobbles!

The cobble season starts on Saturday with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and then rattles its way into Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne on Sunday. These races are for the hard men of the roads. Ed Hood looks back at the last five years of the 'cobbles week-end' and forward to this year.

With the eventual approach of (hopefully) late winter in the northern hemisphere, most of us are transitioning out of preparatory or base training and looking towards incorporating higher intensity efforts into our programs. What are some of the thoughts behind planning intervals properly?

Interview: Brian Vandborg retired at the end of 2013 after a career that saw him compete for CSC, Discovery, GLS, Liquigas, SpiderTech and Cannondale. Two teams folded and a season was ruined due to mononucleosis, but he was a strong team rider to the end. Ed Hood found out more about the man from Snejdjberg.

Feb 23, 2015 - Wall-to-wall racing over the week-end from Oman, Spain, France, Portugal and Italy and we have all the news with reports and result, plus rider quotes and all the video action. Sad news for the Cult Energy team as theft stopped them finishing Haut Var. It's all in EuroTrash Monday.

The aging process is something none of us can avoid, but with the help of Joe Friel and his book 'Faster After 50' we might be able to fight off the degeneration or at least understand the process. There is good news; Friel advises on strength training to stop age-related loss of muscle mass, overtraining and the importance of rest and recovery.

The queen stage of the 2015 Tour of California will be a ball buster of epic proportions, climbing 11,600 feet over just 80 miles from Ontario to the top of Mt. Baldy. I rode the stage a couple years back as part of the L'Etape du California sportif ride, and can assure you this would be at home in any Grand Tour. Here's a closer look at the stage that could decide the 2015 race.

Former World road champion Claude Criquielion lost his last battle and passed away on Wednesday morning at only 58 years old. Ed Hood takes a look at the man from Lessines' life and career, and what his contemporaries in the peloton thought of him. There was so much more to Claudy than that crash in Ronse.

Rider Interview: Tom Boonen is a hero in Belgium, a great champion and also a nice guy to talk to. 'Tommeke' was training in Calpe, Spain (again) this month, so when the Etixx - Quick-Step team invited PEZ to come and talk we jumped at the chance to hear what the Tornado has in mind for 2015.

Feb 19, 2015 - There are three races on at the moment: Oman, Ruta del Sol and Algarve and we have all the results, reports and video. In other cycling news: Contador's retirement, Claude Criquielion, Bruyneel case, preview Laigueglia & Haut Var and on-bike cameras at the World track champs.

This week Lee Rodgers turns his attention to something that we all have: Ego. In most people it is held under control, but there are those who's ego has taken over their life, we can all think of someone. Ego, a necessity, good or bad... discuss.